Eclipse drags at times in the first act but then clicks along at a vampiric, albeit sometimes choppy pace. In another successful deviation from the book, Director David Slade ( Thirty Days of Night) keeps the action rolling throughout, introducing exciting chases and clashes that are outside Bella’s point-of-view in the novel.

It’s an utterly absurd predicament – a chaste threesome – and the sort of thing that makes Twilight be Twilight. One rescue was the essential “Tent Scene” in which the love triangle of cool vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), hot werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and hypothermic human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) spend a stormy night together. There are mythology and character hiccups which usually occurred when self-proclaimed “logic nazi” Meyer wasn’t on set. Fortunately, Eclipse stands well on its own. Even my husband, who named me the “Twilidiot,” frequently quotes Jacob’s line: “I am hotter than you.” The Twilight and New Moon films were a kind of aesthetic Cliff Notes of the books and confusing for those who had not read them. As a bonus, Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg ( Dexter) coins superb zingers.

The screen adaptation changes timeline, settings and dialogue which work better cinematically. Eclipse the movie, condenses into 124 minutes Stephenie Meyer’s novel (629 pages) and parts of the Eclipse novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (178 pages).

The twilight saga eclipse book